19 Highgate
Between Yard 17 Highgate (Bank Yard) and 21 Highgate this building, along with 21 is part of the Halifax Building Society premises. NGR 351493E 492653N
Curwen, 1900 p38
"The original premises on the site adjoining to the south (of Kendal Bank) was at one time occupied by Alderman James Cocke's house and the "Victory Inn." The former had a cock stained into the glass of one of the windows representing the family arms. James Cocke was Mayor in 1653, and gave to the Corporation the very curious old clock now in the Museum, which bears the inscription:- "The gift of James Cocke, Maior of Kendall, 1654, to the Maior of the same Sucksesiuely. Time Runneth - your work is before you." His son James was likewise Mayor in 1681, and issued half-penny tokens in 16667. Messrs. Rhodes inform me that there still remains (now at the back), an old entrance door with a label attached "licensed to sell pepper and tobacco," which doubtless, is the original door of the "Victory Inn."
At the beginning of this century, William Fisher (the great-uncle to Alderman Fisher) owned the property, and lived there with his daughter, who carried on her "mantua" and fancy dress business, advertised in the Carlisle Journal to commence on the 24th June, 1801. William Fisher rebuilt the premises of hewn limestone in 1812, and at that time it was considered to be the first attempt in Kendal to erect an imposing shop front.
It is from here that the electric current fires the time gun at one o'clock each day - a gun that is placed in Serpentine Woods, and lent b the War Office to the Corporation. It is an 18-pounder, measures nine feet long and weighs 42cwts. The agreement between Her Majesty's Postmaster-General and Messr. Thomas and Edmund Rhodes for the provision and maintenance of wires and apparatus for the transmission of the Time Current is dated May 13th, 1873. But it did not come in to operation before the following 5th of September.
Before clocks and watches were as common as they are now, a bell, being a survival of the old curfew, was the guide by which the inhabitants knew the time of day. In summer, it was rung at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and in the winter the hours were from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., except on Sundays. The sexton rang about a quarter of an hour each time, and as a conclusion, always tolled the day of the month by so many distinct sounds. Probably, when in 1582 James Leyburne, of Cunswick Hall, gave his clock to the town of Kendal, the first blow against this ancient custom was given, although it prevailed at more or less irregular intervals up to Easter of 1877."
